巴菲特条例演讲

　Ｏver thｅ ｌast few monｔｈs, Ｉ’ｖｅ bｅen ｔａlking about a ｃｈoｉｃｅ we ｆａce ａｓ a ｃｏuｎtry、 We cａn eithｅｒ seｔtle for ａn econoｍy where a few pｅople do reallｙ welｌ ａnd everyoｎe else strｕggleｓ to get by, oｒ wｅ can bｕiｌd an ecoｎoｍy ｗhｅre hard ｗｏrｋ paｙs ｏff aｇain－ｗｈere everyone geｔｓ a ｆair sｈoｔ， ｅｖｅryoｎe does tｈeir fair sｈａre, ａｎｄ evｅryｏnｅ plays ｂｙ tｈe saｍe rules、 That’ｓ up to ｕｓ、 Ｔoday， Ｉ ｗant to talｋ to ｙou about tｈｅ ｉdea that everｙｏｎe in this cｏuntｒy sｈoｕlｄ do theｉr fair share、 Ｎow, if tｈｉs were a peｒｆeｃt ｗorｌd, we’d ｈave unlimited resources、 No oｎe woulｄ evｅr hａve to ｐａy ａｎｙ taxｅs， anｄ ｗe cｏｕｌd spend aｓ ｍｕｃh as we wanted、 But wｅ ｌive in the rｅaｌ ｗｏrld、 We ｄo ｎot havｅ unlimited ｒesouｒｃes、 We havｅ a ｄeficiｔ that needｓ to bｅ paid ｄown、 And we aｌso hａｖｅ to ｐay fｏr iｎvestｍeｎts tｈat will helｐ our ecoｎｏｍy ｇrｏｗ anｄ kｅeｐ oｕr couｎtｒｙ safe, eｄuｃatiｏn， rｅseａrｃh ａnd ｔechnology, a strong ｍilｉtarｙ， and ｒetirement progｒamｓ ｌike Ｍedicａre ａnd Soｃial Ｓeｃｕ

　rity、 Thａt mｅans we have ｔｏ make cｈｏicｅs、 Whｅn ｉt es ｔo pａyinｇ doｗｎ ｔhｅ defｉcit aｎd investing ｉn ｏuｒ future, shoｕld we ask mｉｄdlｅ ｃlass Ａmericaｎｓ to pａy even mｏｒｅ at a tｉme when theｉｒ budｇeｔs ａｒe already stretcｈed tｏ thｅ breaｋｉng ｐoｉnt、 Ｏｒ ｓhoulｄ we ask some of tｈe ｗealｔhiest Ａｍerｉｃans ｔo pａy thｅir fair shaｒe? Thａｔ"ｓ tｈe cｈoice、 Oｖｅr tｈｅ laｓｔ decａde, we’ve sｐent huｎdrｅｄｓ oｆ billions of doｌlａrs on whaｔ was suｐｐosed to ｂe a tｅmpｏrary tａx cｕt foｒ thｅ wealthiest two pｅrcent ｏf Ａmerｉcａns、 Now ｗe’rｅ scｈeｄuled ｔo ｓｐｅｎd aｌmoｓt a ｔriｌlｉon mｏre、 Todaｙ， ｔhe wealthiest Ａmeriｃanｓ ａre paying taxeｓ at one ｏf ｔｈe lowest rates ｉn ５０ ｙearｓ、 Wａrrｅn Buffeｔt is paｙinｇ a lｏｗer rａte than his secreｔａｒy、 Meanｗhｉle， ovｅr ｔhe last 30 yｅａｒｓ, tｈe ｔａx rates fｏr middle class faｍｉliｅs hａｖe ｂarｅly budgeｄ、 Tｈat’s not faiｒ、

　Ｉｔ ｄoｅｓ noｔ make any sｅnsｅ、 Dｏ we waｎna keeｐ ｇｉｖing tax ｂrｅakｓ ｔｏ tｈｅ wｅａlｔhiest Americａns like mｅ， or Waｒrｅｎ Ｂuffett, or Bill Gaｔeｓ-pｅoｐｌe who do not nｅed them aｎｄ nevｅr asked for tｈem? Ｏr dｏ we wａｎt ｔo ｋeｅp invｅsting ｉn thｉngs tｈat ｗｉll groｗ ｏｕr eｃoｎomy ａnd keep ｕs sｅcure？ Becauｓe we noｔ afｆord to dｏ ｂoｔｈ、 Ｎｏｗ, some ｐeoｐｌｅ call ｔhis cｌass warfａre、 Buｔ I thinｋ askinｇ a billiｏnaiｒe to pａy aｔ least the same tａx rａtｅ aｓ hｉｓ secreｔａｒy is just mon sensｅ、 Wｅ ｄo nｏt envy suｃcess ｉn thiｓ countrｙ、 We aspire to it、 Ｂut ｗe alｓo believe ｔhat aｎyoｎe whｏ dｏes weｌl foｒ thｅmselveｓ shouｌｄ do their faｉr shａre iｎ ｒeｔurn, so that ｍｏｒｅ ｐeｏple ｈave the oｐportｕｎity to get ahｅａd—not jｕsｔ a few、 Ｔhａt"s ｔhe Amｅｒica I bｅliｅve ｉn、 And ｉｎ tｈe nexｔ few ｗeｅks， Memberｓ oｆ Congrｅss will get a cｈanｃｅ ｔo sｈｏw you wｈere they stand、 Coｎｇress iｓ going to vｏte on whaｔ’s caｌｌｅd ｔhｅ Ｂuffetｔ Ｒule：

　If ｙou maｋe moｒe thａn $1 milｌiｏn a yeａr, you sh

　ｏuｌd pay at lｅａｓt tｈｅ samｅ percentａgｅ ｏf your ine in tａxes aｓ middle claｓs fａmilies do、 On tｈe ｏtｈｅr hand, iｆ ｙou mａke uｎdｅr $2５0，00０ a ｙear－like 98 ｐercent of Ａｍｅrｉcan faｍｉlies do－yｏur tａxes sｈoｕlｄ nｏt gｏ ｕp、 Ｙou’re tｈe oneｓ ｓtrｕｇgliｎg with tｈe risinｇ cost oｆ eveｒｙthiｎg fｒoｍ college tuitｉon to groceriｅs、 Yoｕ’ｒe tｈｅ ones whｏ desｅrve a bｒeak、 Sｏ every Mｅmbｅr ｏf Cｏngrｅss is going ｔｏ ｇo on recｏrｄ、 And if thｅy vｏｔe ｔo kｅeｐ ｇiviｎg tax breaks ｔｏ ｐeoplｅ like me-tax ｂｒeａkｓ ouｒ cｏuntｒｙ ｃａn nｏｔ afｆord－tｈｅn ｔheｙ’ｒe goinｇ tｏ hａve ｔｏ explain to you ｗｈere that ｍoney es from、 Eithｅr iｔ’s ｇｏiｎg ｔo aｄｄ to oｕr defｉcit , or it’s going to ｅ out of your ｐocket、 Senｉｏrs ｗilｌ ｈaｖe ｔo ｐaｙ mｏrｅ for ｔheiｒ Medicarｅ benefｉtｓ、 Sｔudentｓ will see their ｉnｔerｅｓt ｒａｔｅｓ go uｐ ａt a time whｅn they cａn nｏt afford it、 Famｉliｅs wｈo arｅ scrａｐing bｙ wiｌl haｖe to do ｍｏｒe beｃausｅ the richesｔ Ａｍerｉcans arｅ ｄoｉng ｌeｓｓ、

　Thaｔ"s ｎot riｇht、 That’ｓ nｏt who we ａrｅ、 In Aｍｅriｃa， oｕr sｔory ｈａｓ ｎever ｂｅeｎ abｏｕt what we ｃan do ｂｙ ouｒｓeｌves-it’s about what we ｃａn ｄo togethｅｒ、 It’s about ｂeｌievｉｎg in ｏur future aｎｄ tｈe fuｔure ｏf this cｏuntry、 So ｔｅll your Ｍemberｓ ｏf Ｃongrｅss tｏ do the righｔ thing、 Ｃall tｈem up， write theｍ ａ letter， ｐａy ｔheｍ ａ visｉｔ, and tｅll thｅm to stｏp gｉving tax brｅaks to pｅｏｐle ｗho ｄo not neｅd tｈem and start investｉnｇ iｎ the ｔhｉnｇs that will ｈｅlp our econoｍy grow and put peopｌｅ bacｋ to woｒｋ、 Thａt"s ｈow wｅ"ll ｍaｋe thｉs cｏunｔrｙ ａ littｌe fａｉrer, a little ｍｏｒe jｕst， and ａ wｈolｅ ｌot stronger、 Thaｎk you、